I dunno what it is about Netflix lately, but it’s been serving up good little mystery shows, and Marisa and I have had a real taste for them. We’re not always on the cutting edge, sometimes waiting a few months to delve into the watch-list. But we’re watching them a-plenty.
And “The Residence” has been, I think, my favourite of the lot.
It brings together a stacked team both in front of and behind the camera. The series was created by Paul William Davies, (Scandal) and the cast is Uzo Aduba, fresh off Orange Is the New Black and Mrs. America, paired with Randall Park of Fresh Off the Boat and Veep. Giancarlo Esposito adds gravitas as the Chief Usher (Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian) came on to the project late after the passing of Andre Braugher. The ensemble rounds out with familiar faces like Ken Marino, Bronson Pinchot, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Jason Lee, and the rest of the cast flushes out the world with quirky, but punchy life.
First off, I gotta say, this show is funny. It gave me so many quick, unexpected barking laughs. The dialogue is so quick, so witty, the comedy sneaks up on you and then hits you like a quick jab to the nose. It might be the show that made me laugh the most this year. It’s brilliant.
But it’s not a comedy. It is a murder mystery, part Knives Out, And Then There Were None via Grand Budapest Hotel. Someone is killed in the White House during a State Dinner. Everyone is a suspect. The world’s greatest detective is called in. She’s very smart. She has a particular way of doing things. You know the drill.
But, the mystery is good, the patter is sharp, and the funny strange parts are so damned funny.
And the sets! Hugely expansive (and expensive), faithful recreations of the rooms in the White House, they seem to glow on screen. It looks unlike any other media set there, from Veep to Indepence Day. It’s big and detailed and seems so real, it makes the other efforts seem upsettingly face by contrast.
Uzo Aduba is a star. Detective Cordelia Cupp deserves more. I demand a recount, and you should watch this show.
